Video 10:53
Interview with Barry O' Farrell

We speak to New South Wales Opposition leader Barry O' Farrell about his new policy that he will introduce regarding liquor trading if he is elected.

Transcript

QUENTIN DEMPSTER, PRESENTER: Both the Keneally Government and the O'Farrell alternative government have so far rejected the collective call by this State's emergency service workers, doctors, nurses, ambulance officers and police, to constrain liquor trading hours to try to reduce alcohol related violence.

Now the local government lobby has joined the call with some councils proposing midnight closing for irresponsible outlets.

This week the alternative premier Barry O'Farrell produced a new policy. If elected next March an O'Farrell government will introduce a three strikes regime, three adverse incidents and you'll lose your liquor trading licence.

I spoke to Barry O'Farrell, the alternative premier, a short time ago.

Barry O'Farrell welcome back to Stateline.

Let me ask you directly, why won't you do what the nurses, the doctors, the ambulance officers and the police want, cut liquor trading hours to 3am across the State?

BARRY O'FARRELL, OPPOSITION LEADER: Because Quentin that does nothing for those clubs that close at midnight and yet the communities around those pubs suffer the same consequences as a Coogee, a Manly or other areas so ...

QUENTIN DEMPSTER: Because they go from the closing pub to the unclosed pub and the problem moves.

BARRY O'FARRELL: And that's the point is that we've decided to do is the give police the power, including to restrict licensing hours. But also to have the extra power that if a operator of a licensed venue, whether pub, whether club, whether nightclub, restaurant or even bottle shop, continues to breach the law they can be closed down.

QUENTIN DEMPSTER: California closes, apparently, at 2am, Los Angeles is a great global city. The United States has a 20, an age limit, a drinking limit of 21, you've got to be 21 before you can drink in the US. Considered that?

BARRY O'FARRELL: Look, I think it would be fantastic if we started over again and it was 21 for people to drink alcohol legally. I just don't think, I think it's very hard for people to go back particularly when we now have a binge drinking culture. Particularly when now have clear evidence that under-age kids are getting access to alcohol.

QUENTIN DEMPSTER: On the binge culture question. Let's look at what Commissioner Scipione said earlier this year, broadcast on Stateline.

ANDREW SCIPIONE, POLICE COMMISSIONER: There can be no denying that when you see what police see, when you see drunken groups of teenagers wanting to take on the most powerful riot squad that there is in this country, you know you've got a problem that's probably out of control.

QUENTIN DEMPSTER: Mr O'Farrell do you agree that there is a binge culture that we have never seen before in this State and this country.

BARRY O'FARRELL: I do and I've been up to the Cross late at night with police to see that first hand. I've been to country towns with police to see it first time.

And there's role here for government and it's not just about giving police additional move-on powers, it's not just about sending a strong message with appropriate rules about the way operators are able to act. It's also about State Government sending a message about standards, about personal responsibility, to help the police do their job.

QUENTIN DEMPSTER: You say you want to be tough, so tell us how three, your new three strikes regime will work?

BARRY O'FARRELL: Well what it says is that the existing regime stays in place. That means that whether it's plastic cups, whether it's restrictions on trading hours continues. If you offend the first time that's probably the level of infringement and restriction you face. Do it again and it can go up, go up to a new level. But third time you do it, third time you do it you know you risk your livelihood.

We're saying change your ways or change your job.

QUENTIN DEMPSTER: If you're a big hotelier, can I put this to you, if you're a big hotelier, a big operator and you face one of these things you'd have your lawyers into the Supreme Court, let alone... Forget about your magistrate looking at these things, another tribunal and an agency paid for by the tax payer, you'd be off to the Supreme Court.

BARRY O'FARRELL: And that's why, Quentin, we're being very careful about this. We've got a committee that's headed by a magistrate, we've got appeal rights. We're making sure that, legally, it is sound.

But we're saying very strongly to those problematic operators "continue to offend, we're not going to stand by and pretend to be tough. We are going to be tough. We're taking away your license, we're taking away your livelihood".

QUENTIN DEMPSTER: You're imposing a great cost on the tax payers Mr O'Farrell, aren't you, because you've just heard the police commissioner saying he has to keep the riot squad with the full kit on standby on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights to be called out in the event of an alcohol fuelled riot?

BARRY O'FARRELL: But let's be clear Quentin. That's happening now, under a system that Nathan Rees brought in, that Kristina Keneally defends, that says everything's OK. Yet go into suburbs like Coogee and Manly, go into some country towns and communities will tell you this problem is going unchecked.

What I'm saying is give police the power, not on a one size fits all which in some areas won't do the job, but to tailor make the powers, the response to individual hotels, to individual communities and whether they're a hotel, whether they're a pub, whether they're a liquor shop or whether they're a nightclub.

QUENTIN DEMPSTER: Mr O'Farrell let's look at what Scott Webber the President of the Police Association has been saying on behalf of all the emergency workers.

SCOTT WEBBER, PRESIDENT, POLICE ASSOCIATION: Everyone out on the street knows there's an issue with alcohol related crime. We've done a survey across Australia. 80 per cent of people support 3am closing times and in NSW where there is a bigger issue we see 85 cent of the community wanting to support extended trading hours brought back to 3am.

All sides of politics are going down the path of the AHA (Australian Hoteliers Association) mantra, that is personal responsibility. We're starting to see some changes, but again, this is a big election issue for all emergency service workers and the community. Enough is enough.

We need to make sure that the community's protected. We need to put safety before profits. We have the statistical data, we have the results from Newcastle.

QUENTIN DEMPSTER: Mr O'Farrell the Newcastle imposed conditions he was referring to, 3am closing, 1am lockout and ban on shots and bombs, it's resulted in an internationally recognised and unprecedented 37 per cent reduction in assaults to around 1,000 actual assaults prevented in the last two and a half years.

I just went up to Newcastle the other day and Newcastle night life doesn't seem to have been devastated, what is your answer to that compelling evidence?

BARRY O'FARRELL: Well Quentin that was a tailored response for a number of pubs in Newcastle, but not all pubs in Newcastle, not all licensed venues. So in other words it's precisely what we're saying, give police the powers, including the removal of licences, to tailor make a response to a particular area where the trouble spots are.

But let's not pretend in suburbs where there are still problems caused by alcohol, but where pubs close at midnight that a 3am closure, a 1am lockout is going to solve the problem.

QUENTIN DEMPSTER: Why can't you give the community what it wants Mr O'Farrell, 3am trial of early closing to see where that goes across the board, across New South Wales, and let's see by how much we can reduce assaults in New South Wales?

BARRY O'FARRELL: Quentin what I'm saying to you for the third time is that under what we're proposing not only do the existing ability to impose restrictions apply, but an additional power will apply which is to take away the licence and stop alcohol being served at that premise, whether club, pub, nightclub or bottleshop.

QUENTIN DEMPSTER: You say police can close early?

BARRY O'FARRELL: Police can currently impose restrictions.

QUENTIN DEMPSTER: Well what's that mean?

BARRY O'FARRELL: Well that means, for instance, that you've got to have 10 minutes away from the bar, you've got to have, you've got to ...

QUENTIN DEMPSTER: But not early closing?

BARRY O'FARRELL: But they can ... Well hang on, I'm not going to defend, I'm not going to defend liquor trading hours, particularly a Carr Government that handed out 24 licences. Don't get me wrong on this, don't get me...

QUENTIN DEMPSTER: They may well have led to the dynamic, but you are being asked, you're the alternative premier, you are being asked and the community, you heard what Mr Webber has just said 80 to 85 per cent want a restriction of trading hours to approve amenity and to reduce assaults?

BARRY O'FARRELL: And Quentin on this, or any other issue, I'm not going to pretend there is a silver bullet, magic, one size fits all solution because there isn't.

What we're saying is allow police and others to do their job. Tailor make the response to the area and if it involves removing a licence because someone continues to flout the law, absolutely do so.

QUENTIN DEMPSTER: On other matters, Premier, Kristina Keneally, has attacked you and the Liberal Party over your apparently frantic fundraising efforts to beat the 1 January cut-off when new campaign finance reforms come in.

You're taking money hand over fist at the moment, apparently, from sectional interests including gaming and tobacco companies. Is this a good look?

BARRY O'FARRELL: Well Quentin no one's tried harder for three and a half years to argue for reform of campaign finance and if we're elected we'll do what should have been done, what Labor voted against two weeks ago, which is restrict donations to modest donations only from individuals. Allow only people who have a vote to actually make donations if they want to.

Quentin we will abide by the law, but what we'll never do is do what Kristina Keneally did, which is change the law, put caps on all political parties, but allow her union affiliates to run a proxy campaign and be able to spend $23 million doing so.

QUENTIN DEMPSTER: Is it true that sectional interests in New South Wales are outspending, are donating to the Liberal Party about two, three to one to the Labor Party?

BARRY O'FARRELL: I don't know that Quentin.

QUENTIN DEMPSTER: Why don't you know that?

BARRY O'FARRELL: Because it's not my job to know it and because ...

QUENTIN DEMPSTER: You're going to all these fundraisers, you must have a pretty good idea.

BARRY O'FARRELL: Well the most expensive fundraiser ...

QUENTIN DEMPSTER: They're a $1,000 a table.

BARRY O'FARRELL: Well I could use a word which would be unpolite on the ABC Quentin. The most expensive fundraiser I went to this week was a $120 a head dinner.

QUENTIN DEMPSTER: And who was there? Can we see the donors?

BARRY O'FARRELL: Well I think in fact that there were members of the media were there.

But Quentin the point is we abide by the law which includes disclosure of our donations and our source of those donations and we'll continue to do abide by the law. But won't rort the law in the way Kristina Keneally is trying to do by pretending affiliated unions aren't connected to her mob and allow them to spend $23 million after the 1st January to try to get them re-elected.

QUENTIN DEMPSTER: You pointed out that's the inconsistency. But we've checked, we're trying to check with trade union officials to see how much money and they say they're not going to waste their members' money and throw it down the toilet?

BARRY O'FARRELL: Well Quentin it certainly explains why Kristina Keneally a week or so before she announced that legislation decided to rip up an occupational health and safety agreement that had been nationally agreed. That was about pump priming the union movement in this State to spend money, to unlock their coffers to support her and she moves legislation ...

QUENTIN DEMPSTER: It's a serious allegation.

BARRY O'FARRELL: She moves legislation that confirms it because it treats the ETU (Electrical Trade Union), of which her president, her party president, is general secretary, it treats them as if they're an unattached independent third party.

QUENTIN DEMPSTER: It's a serious allegation, do you have evidence to back it up. I mean it's a good conspiracy theory, have you got any evidence?

BARRY O'FARRELL: Well look for the better part of this term including from May of last year when Joe Tripodi stood up in the House and said 'We're going to back the national agreement', they've been behind it. And all of a sudden she backs away, all of a sudden she seeks to shred it and then a week or two later she announces these reforms, these so called reforms ,that give her affiliated unions a free pass. She's primed the pump and is hoping that that will turn on the union tap post the 1st January.